Guantanamo Naval Base in Guantanamo, CUBA

Contact Information

Phone: 011-5399-4502

Despite the unfriendly relations between the United States of America and Cuba, the USA do have a military base established in the country. It is actually the oldest installation established outside of the country. At the same time, Guantanamo Bay is the one and only base the USA own in a country led by a communist regime. The base was established in the oriented region, in the southeastern part of Cuba. It is not far from the USA though – only about 600 kilometers away from Miami.

Mission

Judging by its location, Guantanamo Bay has more than just one mission. When it comes to its location, it is excellent for the ships that require refueling operations. Other than that, the international channel for shipping in the area must be constantly maintained, not to mention about the proximity to the Caribbean. The installation is part of a treaty with Cuba, so even if all these things would be useless, it would still have to be there.

As for the logistic support and operations, the facility is an essential “tool” in the fight against the drug traffic from the Caribbean to the United States of America. The experts on site provide logistic help to all the troops struggling to eliminate the traffic. Most of the operations in the Caribbean – regardless of their nature – come and connect to this base.

One of the aspects that tensioned the relations between the United States of America and Cuba is the migrant history. The USA aims to eliminate the communist regime and supports the migrants, but it also disagrees with the idea of illegal migrants. Therefore, Guantanamo Bay has something to do in this process too. It helps the migrants accommodate in their attempt to escape from the communist country.

History

The relations between the two countries were friendly in the past. At the beginning of the 20-th century, the USA got around 50 square miles of Cuba for a coaling installation. The treaty was signed in Cuba, in 1903. The treaty was renegotiated in 1934. The lease was changed. If in 1903 the USA had to pay around 2,000 gold coins, in 1934 it had to pay around $4,000. Besides, the treaty had a term that forces Cuba to host the base today too, unlike its wishes. The base can be closed only if both countries accept it or if the United States of America fully abandons the installation. Considering the vital importance of the base, this is less likely to happen. The relations were stable until the Cuban revolution that began in the ’50s. That is when Fidel Castro took over.

There were multiple attempts of the Cuban regime to eliminate the USA troops from its territory, but all of them were forbidden by the treaty. The base provokes the regime even more, especially since many Cubans work on site. Guantanamo Bay was also the home of the Haitian migrants, not to mention about the terrorist prisoners brought there by the officials during the war on terrorism. Most of them were part of Al-Qaeda.